The Essence Of The Darkness
Episode 27: Start Working

"Chemistry is you touching my arms, and it sets fire to my mind, then burn my body."

David, a man from the personal division was asked by Elios to deliver and introduce Elana to the cleaning service division.

It was still morning, only eight o'clock more, while the company Akram adapted office hours in the western world that began at ten in the morning and ended at five in the afternoon, that's why the situation in this lobby is not crowded enough. By the time they came to enter Akram's grand corporate headquarters, David was already waiting in the lobby and immediately stood politely as soon as he saw Elios stepping in, with Elana following awkwardly behind him.

David's attitude was so respectful towards Elios, the man even slightly bowed when shaking hands with him.

Apparently, Elios' position as assistant and Akram's right hand made him quite respected in this company.

Elios introduces Elana to David, then the two men appear to have a formal conversation without involving Elana in it.

Elana herself was not interested in their conversation and chose to use the opportunity to look around and study the situation. Magnificent was the first word that was summed up in Elana's heart on her first observation. The company's lobby is quite large, with a very large floor covered in black marble as the place stands, looking in contrast to the roof that is shaped like a giant dome shaped like ivory white above. On the other hand, there are giant pillars of white marble towering on each side of the building.

This magnificent lobby is quite suitable to compensate for the height of the building that had made Elana wide open when the first car driven by the driver took them into the front area in the office building area owned by Akram.

This area is located in a very large area with the high office building as its center. When they were still in the car, Elios explained that outside the central building, complete facilities to support the needs of employees were built perfectly around the headquarters building.

The facility is in the form of highly manicured gardens, which are surrounded by cycling paths and pedestrian paths that are lined with classic bricks and arranged in very neat rows. Opposite the garden, under the shade of giant trees that shade, the, there are small cafes inside the uniform building lined up and mingled with mini restaurants that sell various types of food located in small buildings with beautiful classical building style. Not enough just with the complete culinary facilities, on the other hand there is also a shopping area that sells various needs, such as, adjacent to the building of a fairly luxurious health clinic which is also equipped with a special child care center for employees. In addition, there are still many other public facilities available for employees.

When Elios finished explaining it all in the car, Elana ended up with her mouth agape and sparkling eyes staring out the window at the neatly arranged buildings outside. Familiar as if building a complete city of its own to meet the needs of all its employees, so they do not need to go out again to find what they need, because everything is available in here.

The voice of Elios calling her name distracts Elana from the daydream. He immediately raised his gaze and saw David leaving them for a moment and seemed to talk to the receptionist who was ready to serve behind the reception desk in the middle of the magnificent lobby.

Meanwhile, Elios stands in front of her, waiting for Elana to pay attention to him before starting to speak.

"David from the personnel department is the person I'm assigned to take you to your division" Elios said briefly, then gripped a card into Elana's hand

Elana lowered her head, stared at the card in her hand curiously, and her eyes widened when she saw that the black gold-coloured card, her photo, was listed, here is the name and status of his job as a cleaning service. The name written on the card was not her full name, but listed the name 'Lana' as her first name.

At least his new name is quite similar to his old name. Most likely, Akram had already thought of that when giving the fake name to him. Elana would easily turn her head if called by the name 'Lana' just like when she was called by her real name.

"This is the official identity card for company employees. In addition to guests, only official employees can pass by in this office area. You must remember to always wear this ID card in the office area, because if you do not wear it, the security officer will come and check you for suspecting you as an intruder." Elios explained without being asked. "Oh, and the identity card of this employee also applies as a means of exchange for payments in all areas of the company. So if you buy food, or goods, or medicine and others in the commercial area in this area of the company, you simply use the employee card that will be scanned by the employee on duty. At the beginning of the month, all spending accounts for a full month will be billed and can be paid in cash or deducted in employee salaries. Meanwhile, for your case, don't worry, Mr. Akram will pay off any amount of your bill, so your salary will remain intact later."

Elana rolled her eyeballs unconsciously hearing Elios' last sentence. Why would his salary be intact if he couldn't even take it?

"So, can I buy lunch with this card?" Elana asked, her eyes sparkling at the mini restaurant outside. At first glance, Elana has seen that the restaurants outside seem to sell various types of tempting foods. It would be nice if he could taste the food one by one every day.

Elios frowned looking at Elana's reaction. This woman looked ordinary and unimpressed when Elios described the luxurious facilities that Akram had generously given her. Akram obviously treats Elana very special, for example, it can be seen from the action of Akram giving black card to Elana, whereas Akram never gave a very exclusive card to others before.

Did not Elana know that she can close one famous boutique in full, drive out all other visitors and shop there as a single guest and get super exclusive service, using the black card?

And now, Elana seemed so happy, with a radiant face and sparkling eyes, just knowing that he could use the card in his hand to buy food in all the small restaurants available in the company area.

"You can buy whatever you want, Miss Elana. Just show the employee's identity card to the cashier and they will scan it," Elios looked at Elana's face and decided to ask. "Or is there a food you want that is not available in here? I can get people to get it and give it to you right away."

Elana immediately shook her head quickly. "No.. no! Here all is enough. Te. thank you," he refused in a subtle tone.

Elios' position is quite high in this company, while Elana is just a janitor with a class far below her. Seeing Elios behave like a servant who was serving the king's daughter against him certainly made Elana overwhelmed by awkwardness and wanted to immediately break away from this conversation.

But, however, Elios' explanation made Elana relieved. At least he did not need to be confused to buy his lunch needs in a condition without any money. Even so, Elana will insist that Akram should deduct from his salary for the monthly payment of his lunch bill later. Because, even if she is bound under the threat of Akram, Elana still has the self-esteem she maintains, she will not beg Akram to meet her lunch needs as an employee in this company.

At the same time, David seemed to step closer back towards them, his smile friendly before he nodded towards Elios.

"In that case, I will bring this new employee to his division" said David politely who was replied with a thin nod of Elios. Elios then glanced at Elana, then gestured by pointing at his own watch.

Elana chose not to react to the signal Elios had given her. Afterwards, David reversed course and motioned for Elana to follow in her footsteps until Elana moved away from Elios.

David was apparently very friendly, and it seemed like the man was quite famous in this company as everyone who passed by them immediately greeted David cheerfully as if they were all close friends.

The two of them stepped through the long hallways in this area of the building and Elana concentrated on trying to memorize the road they were going through. Even after going so far, they were still on the first floor parallel to the lobby. This is quite urgent, because even though they have not moved a single floor, Elana has been confused to memorize the road because of the breadth of this area and the complexity of the hallway with each other.

"Don't worry, as time goes by, you'll be stuck with this place. You're a janitor, so you're most likely going around the whole building to do your job. Later ask this building map to your supervisor, he will help you to install it on your phone. We provide a special digital map for each employee considering the vastness of this building," David looked at Elana and smiled kindly. "Mr Elios said that you are part of a CSR program of corporate social activities that takes ready-to-work children from orphanages and gives them work experience over several periods. Maybe you should start from the lowest position as a janitor, but don't worry, here everyone is judged by their hard work, no one will demean you even if you're a janitor."

Elana just nodded her head and kept the information in her heart. So his alibi in this place is as a representative of orphans from orphanages who can get a job because of the CSR program of corporate social activities. He must remember it carefully so as not to be mistaken words later.

It seems like everything has been prepared neatly to accommodate Elana's friendship, and Elana is grateful that although some things do not fit her plan, at least she can get out of Akram's confinement every day, breathing the pseudo-free air and acting as himself, an orphan from an orphanage who works as a janitor to connect with life.

David handed it to the supervisor who headed and coordinated all the janitors in this area of the building. Elana gets a locker to store valuables such as her wallet and mobile phone, then is given a uniform that can be used immediately and handed over to one of the senior officers for training and mentoring on her first day of work.

A few hours later it went very fast for Elana. Because of the size of this building, there are so many janitors in the division and every few periods, a new schedule is arranged to maximize the ability of employees in all areas of the company.

Since morning, Elana followed her senior on the third floor with a group of other janitors. They keep moving to work, combing every room and making sure everything is cleaned carefully, the staff workspace is tidied up before all employees come, the meeting room is prepared so that it can be used at any time, the garbage was collected in the garbage trolley they were carrying, likewise, the toilet area that is even on one floor is available so much and they must make sure it is clean and fragrant for use by employees.

Because so many rooms that must be cleaned, when the break time arrives, they just take care of half of their tasks on the floor.

Elana followed Winda's mother, the senior who accompanied her stepping back into the cleaning service division when the break arrived. There were already many officers who had just come from their respective posts, gathered in the locker area and were preparing for lunch.

"You're going to have lunch with us, aren't you?" ms. Winda, a middle-aged woman who still seemed fit in her work, smiled motherly at Elana, "I can recommend which menu is delicious, which menu, lots and cheap among the restaurants available out there" he continued.

Elana nodded her head, forgetting that she had to be ready for Akram at lunchtime, and instead decided to follow the invitation of Missa to go to lunch with other employees.

Just now Elana swallowed her fifth feed from the rice menu and the vegetable soup sauce is so refreshing, so, several men dressed in formal suits and wearing special security guard identification similar to Akram's bodyguards, stepped into the small restaurant where Elana and her co-workers chose this lunch.

Elana immediately remembered Elios saying that she should be ready for Akram at lunchtime. A bad premonition instantly hit Elana and the delicious food she was chewing on suddenly felt like a bland paper that was hard to swallow.

They're all unlikely to be blatantly dragging him away from here, right?